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Pressed for time, the Minnesota Legislature faced increasing urgency Thursday to start sending Gov. Mark Dayton the bills that make up the two-year, $37 billion state budget. Democrats running the Capitol have a late Monday deadline to pass the budget and avoid a special session.
A budget bill approved Wednesday in the House would temporarily chop the rates to produce savings to businesses of $346 million over the next two years. The tax is based on the wages paid at for-profit companies.
Minnesota Democrats are giving up for the year on a push to change election law so people could start voting weeks before Election Day.
On Wednesday, lawmakers who took a risk by supporting the bill are getting some political help. A political action committee has formed just for them, as lawmakers who voted yes might need help to get re-elected -- some admitted the vote might have hurt them back home.
Minnesota lawmakers are primed to adopt legislation giving idled workers longer-lasting jobless benefits when locked out by their companies in labor fights.
City officials in Minnesota are making plans for a rush of marriages on Aug. 1, when the new state law legalizing same-sex unions takes effect. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman is promoting the city's wedding venues, including Como Park Zoo and Conservatory.
The Minnesota House plans a Friday debate an $800 million construction projects bill that can't pass without Republican votes.
Minnesota taxes will rise by more than $2 billion in the next two-year state budget, but who pays how much on what is still being hammered out as the Legislature speeds toward a Monday deadline for the session's adjournment.
The Minnesota Senate approved a Democratic-sponsored bill Wednesday to let unions try to organize daycare providers and personal care workers, after a 17-hour debate that stretched through the night thanks to forceful opposition from Republicans.
North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven says a measure that would authorize a Red River flood diversion project has passed the Senate. The nearly $2 billion proposal to move water around Fargo is part of the 2013 Water Resources Development Act.
With gay marriage soon to be the law of Minnesota, the political group that led the push to pass it will live on as a political action committee to help legislators who voted for it. Minnesotans United announced its next step Wednesday.
The Minnesota Senate has approved scaled-back revisions to state gun laws that do not include an expansion of background checks for gun purchases. The Senate approved the bill Wednesday on a 58-9 vote.
Saying they could save hundreds of lives every year, the nation's highway safety advocates want states to reduce the legal blood alcohol limit for driving by 35 percent -- from 0.08 to 0.05.
Minnesota's governor is set to sign a bill legalizing gay marriage that will let same-sex couples hold weddings starting Aug. 1. Gov. Mark Dayton has repeatedly promised to sign the bill. He's scheduled to do so during a ceremony at 5 p.m. Tuesday on the front steps of Minnesota's Capitol in St. Paul.
Gov. Mark Dayton has signed an emergency order to help the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center fight wildfires around the state.
